Get Organized by Living With Less!

There are so many wonderful tips and ideas for getting organized. I’m kind of an organizational junkie myself. I like to read books and blogs about organizing and I love to organize my own things (and other people’s if they give me a chance).

The best tip I have for getting organized is not something you can buy at Ikea or The Container Store. The best way to get organized is to get rid of the junk! I once took a time management class and learned that if you don’t take care of something the first time you pick it up, you touch it 40 more times before you actually deal with it. What a total waste of time!

No matter how many bins, baskets, drawers, containers, files, and notebooks you own, managing these tools takes time.

The less you have, the less you have to maintain.

As someone who likes to save money, I have a tendency to hold on to things because I might need them in the future. Better to reuse something you have than buy something new, right? Well… that is sort of right. When you hold on to everything it becomes difficult to manage, things become disorganized, and you end up not being able to find the stuff you were saving.

In my life there are only a handful of things I wish I hadn’t thrown away or dropped off at Goodwill, and those few things are replaceable.

Here are a few ideas for living an organized life with less.

Clothes

Stop holding on to all the these use to fit me in college outfits.

Seriously, if you ever fit into them again they will be so outdated you won’t want to wear them. Keep a basic wardrobe of items that fit you and your lifestyle. Clothes are cheap to replace at yard sales and thrift stores, so only hold on to pieces that fit you well today.

Paperwork

Paperwork clutter can drive a person bonkers! I created a notebook system to help me track all my paperwork. I keep only what’s necessary and shred the rest. Another way I simplify my paperwork is online banking and bill pay. I pay almost all of my bills online and this has greatly reduced the paper clutter in my home.

Toys

I’m plead guilty to toy clutter in the first degree. With seven kids it is almost impossible not to have a toy filled house!

Whenever the mover went into our basement she remarked that it looked like a Toy’s R Us, and that was after I had given several van loads to Goodwill.

I’m preaching to myself here, but kids don’t need every toy ever invented. They don’t even need .0005% of the toys invented.

My kids are happier and play with more of their toys the less they have. Toy clutter overwhelms kids and they end up not wanting to play with anything. Or, toy clutter gives kids the opportunity to make incredible messes with all the toys. Go on a toy de-clutter spree. Your kids will not notice and you will have a better life, I promise.

Kitchen Tools

I’m guilty of kitchen clutter too. I love kitchen tools! They are so much fun and helpful, when I can find them! Have you ever spent 10 minutes searching for that certain kitchen tool in the over-crowded drawer? I have. It isn’t fun, and it is a big time waster.

Go through your kitchen and get rid of things you have never used, then go through it again and get rid of the tools you haven’t used in over a year. You really can do more with less in the kitchen.

Food

A disorganized pantry is a huge time and money waster! How many times have you cleaned out your pantry only to find several of the same item and not because you were stockpiling? Or perhaps you run to the store to buy that needed ingredient at full price, only to find another bottle unopened in the back of the pantry weeks later.

Have you thrown out food because it has expired or gone bad in a disorganized fridge? While it is great to stock up on sales at the grocery store, create a system before you begin. Meal plan so your family eats all the leftovers and nothing goes to waste in the kitchen.

Stuff

Stuff, you know the things that clutter your home, waste your time, and rob you of your joy? The refrigerator magnet that came in an advertisement, the broken frame you know you are going to fix…. one day…, the books you will never read, the magazines you have already read.

Get rid of them. Give it away, throw it away, burn it in the wood stove, but get rid of the stuff you don’t need.

Having less truly is having more.

More time, more space, more joy. This year get organized by getting rid of the things you don’t need so you can spend time on the things that are important.

Are you tired of wasting precious time shuffling papers and looking for your missing shoe, or your vanishing purse? You dream of short-cuts to make your life more organized, but is it possible?

What if you could learn from a group of organizing gurus all at once — regular people who’ve found practical solutions to their everyday struggles, and want to share their best tips and tactics with you in all the areas you find most challenging?

The Conquer Your Clutter Super Bundle includes 38 digital products on topics like how to organize your photos, decluttering, family systems, meal planning, time management, and much more. All together, it’s worth over $650, but right now this bundle is 95% off.

Here’s how it works:

Visit their website, take a quick look at all the goodness that comes in this Super Bundle, then click “Get my copy now!” to go through their simple 3-step checkout process.

You’ll receive an email with a login to their online access portal, where you’ll begin downloading your eBooks, signing up for your eCourses, printing out planners, and redeeming your free bonus products.

Use their Getting Started Guide to pick the area you want to tackle first and start getting organized!

It’s even backed by a full money-back happiness guarantee, so you can know for sure that it’s right for you. I’ve purchased several of the products in this bundle (at full price) and love them, so don’t wait to get some of my favorite products for 95% off!

This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Comments

Hi! This is a great blog – I love it. Anyway, I have trouble keeping my pantry clutter free. It’s so hard to organize things in deep closets/cabinets and we have a small place, I’m surprised as to how much I can fit in there. I really need a better system because sometimes I look in there and the sight of it stresses me out. I wish I had a pantry that was more like a closet instead of just a couple deep cabinets. =(

I have a dual problem – my desk (which is right in the middle of the living room right now, as we’re remodeling the “school room”) is always piled high with the “stuff” I can’t seem to control, and our kitchen “bar” area – a 5ft-long stretch of counter that was/is intended to be an eat-at counter but instead has been a 4+-year-long challenge of endless clutter. I’d love to discover a PERMANENT solution to both these areas (and the many other places in my house that need some control).

I have stuff (craft supplies) that has moved with me to seven different homes. I really need to let some of this stuff go. Some of it has come in handy over the years, for kids school projects. It really is time to say good-bye to at least half of it so I can enjoy the room set aside for crafting/scrapbooking.

My clothes! Before my daughter was born I was a financial planner so that meant looking the part in fancy expensive clothes. How often do I wear these clothes now that I am a stay at a home mom? Once a week to church IF I’m lucky. Some of my suits are too fancy and pretentious looking to wear to church. I am totally a jeans t-shirt gal now but I don’t have it in me to get rid of my clothes from another life.

Also – donating to help other gain employment is a very worthy cause. Think of a woman who has escaped an abusive situation and has young kids, needing work. I guarantee you will feel great after you drive away without your closet full of clothes 🙂 Being generous always seems to come back to you, it’s great karma.

My biggest clutter area is the kitchen. It seems to be the “catch all” area. Next would be my desk which is in my kitchen. I tend to be a piler also. I have stacks of stuff waiting to be dealt with LOL

Clothes are a problem too, but I think the biggest issue is all those magazines, papaers, catalogs of things we bought or thinking of buying and so on. I try to organize things, but this is an ongoing battle I´ll hopfully win whe I have enough space to create a spot for items needed.

I have a countertop in my kitchen that is the “drop off” point for everything from school work to bills to magazines and toys…you name it! Every once in awhile I manage to clean it up only to have the same stuff return!

I’ve begun winning the battle with paper by dealing with it right away. Part of that strategy involves putting anything that my husband needs to review onto his desk, which is BY FAR the messiest spot in our home. His zone takes up almost half of our study, but at least it’s contained, right? He doesn’t have the clutter-craze that I do, obviously!

I have crazy paper clutter and toy clutter! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! I try to declutter and it comes right back, with a family!! 🙂 I do realize that my girls have “way too much” and it is time to get rid of some things, I just need help with the plan!

I’m a stacker extraordinaire – I can make clutter look organized LOL! Two biggest areas for me right now are the schoolroom/library and the sewing room aka storage unit. I know I’ll have more time after decluttering…I just wish it didn’t TAKE so much time to get it done! I could really use that book…

I too have an issue with paper clutter, things arrive and get piled on my desk and I never have a chance to sit down and get it organized and just piles and a piles and piles. Then there are the closets!

I cannot for the life of me keep our kitchen table cleared off. It drives me nuts! Its just so easy to accumulate mess there because when we both first come home from work the last thing we want to do is put things where they belong 🙂

TOYS! We try to follow the “one in one out” rule, but I cheat a lot! I always think, “He might play with that…” or “She loved this toy!” Seeing the kids grow up so fast also makes it hard to get rid of toys they have outgrown… I know things don’t mean as much as people, but sometimes things (toys) REMIND me of people, and I get all sentimental! I would love to read Clutter Rehab! Thanks for offering a fun giveaway!

Clothing seems to be my biggest clutter causer. It gets washed, dried, folded and NOT put away… If the hangers are in the laundry room I will most definitely hang like items however if it’s to be folded it will just get stacked in what ever room it resides. I do well with paper items as they have a bin at our daughters school and it takes all junk mail and paper items. I just really need that boost to organization.

My worst problem is paper work. I am pretty organized in my small area upstairs where I pay bills etc but where we file stuff in the basement–yikes–it is a mess. We have the file cabinets but I never seem to have time to file it and it piles up on my desk.

Oh my! Where to begin? My biggest clutter issue? Can I just include my whole house and roll all the other comments into mine? I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed when my feet hit the floor in the morning. I think that sometimes I try and try and try to clear, but nothing ever gets “fixed.” I guess I need systems to put in place for dealing with everything that we have around the house, from clothes, to toys, paperwork, closets, and for some strange reason, my entryway seems to be my catch-all for junk! How in the world this happened, I have no idea!!! Reflecting, I guess it’s because we use our garage entrance to come into our home and our front door is never used. I jokingly call myself a “baby-hoarder” but my home really isn’t that bad…but really, if you’re coming over, I do need a couple hours notice! 🙂

My current clutter trouble are my closets…bedroom, and hallway. These two closets have been the catch all place for binders, activity bags for my little one, paperwork, books, etc. I need to clear them out but am overwhelmed because then I know I need to organize another area for stuff that doesn’t belong in the closets. Then my next trouble area is my paperwork; bills, school work, medical stuff, special needs paperwork stuff, etc. grrr…. 🙂

Does a cluttered computer count? I have so many files I only needed a couple times that need deleting, pictures that need dealing with, thousands of emails in my inbox from years ago, etc; I feel like it would take days to condense it all.

My biggest clutter problem, without a doubt, is paperwork – medical bills, mail, papers from daycare, etc. I try to take care of it when it comes in the house, but there always seems to be massive piles everywhere!

Can I just say, ALL OF THE ABOVE! =) We are still “finishing” a new house… meaning several storage areas are not even fully functional, let alone organized. Too Much Stuff. We had an attic at the old house. Very bad for accumulating stuff. And yeah, I could swivel my head and see several hotspots of piles of mail, etc…
I do LOVE it when we clean off the kitchen island so we can use it for baking or a buffet! I suppose it’s time the pile of Christmas cards living there were put away permanently??
Sorry for the book-length comment ~ I should get up and go DO something about this mess! =) Thanks for the giveaway!

Oh, where to start? My entire house?
The area that causes me the most anxiety would be the kitchen counter. I have very limited counter space, so the space we do have is filled with the coffee maker, the urn of utensils, knife block, oh, and all of the crud that just seems to show up. (I’m looking now: a few nalgene bottles, school forms, a mateless mitten, and about 23 other things I’m too lazy/embarrassed to mention.

I struggle with piles of laundry in my room. My whole bedroom has become a dumping ground of “I’ll get to that later” messes. I really need to get in and clean it. Perhaps one step at a time, rather than the whole thing in one day.

I struggle with the toy clutter, too. And in addition to all of the regular toys, we have all of the “little” toys – the party favors, the little plastic snakes, the rocks which keep getting hauled inside from our driveway … It doesn’t ever seem to end!!

I have a clutter problem . . . everywhere. My husband and I are both pilers. When we try to clean up, we just move each other’s piles from one place to another. And now, it is beginning to affect my daughter’s room. I just can’t see the solution on my own. HELP!

My biggest clutter problem is paper clutter. Whether it’s on my counter, my dresser or my desk. I seem to apply that whole touch it 40 times before I do something with it, I need to start learning to designate a place for it once it comes in so it doesn’t pile up. Paper clutter can get out of control real fast.

ya I think my kitchen counter is the biggest issue…I clean it up so often only to find more clutter shortly after….it’s so easy to just put stuff down on it. And each time I cleaned it up I promise myself to keep it clean this time….=)

I have a constant paper trial of flyers from my daughter’s schools and extracurricular activities. I can definitely see where I would benefit from using binders versus the file folders / cabinets I use now…I try and keep on top of my paperwork but I find my papers gathering on my kitchen counter and then rotating over to my dining room table and finally resting on my desk!! I would love to win a copy of Clutter Rehab!!! My name is Naomi and I am a “clutter” addict!!

My biggest clutter problem is paperwork. My desk stays a mess with paperwork that needs to be filed, shredded or thrown away. I also have a pile of paper from homeschooling that never seems to go away.

It’s my whole craft room. It is just one big storage mess for all the stuff that needs to get hidden when people come over. There is no room on the floor to walk around and the desk is never available for crafting! But there is some pretty great supplies in there-once I find the time:)

It’s difficult to say where my greatest clutter problem is since my apt is full of boxes waiting for a move in 2 weeks! I would say I usually have most trouble keeping my office area organized. Too many papers! 🙂

My clutter problem is paperwork! There seems to be a steady stream right into our home- work papers, school papers, junk mail, important mail…the list goes on. I feel if I don’t keep up with it daily, it becomes overwhelming!

My biggest clutter problem is the spare room a.k.a “The Man Cave” which is filled with my husbands mess, and becomes the catch all when we have to “clean-up” quickly for guests, or for things we’re just not sure what to do with!

My clutter travels… but it all comes down to horizontal surfaces. Any of them are prone to being piled upon. Even in my attempts to keep them pretty and decorated, piles of papers and odds & ends find their way there. My house in general lacks storage space, so trying to find inexpensive ways to create storage is my need. I’m also really trying to purge down the excess as we have way too much stuff!

I’m reading everyone’s comments and nodding my head in agreement with every one (well, except for the Man-Cave/spare room one – with 9 kids, we haven’t EVER had THAT luxury, although if we did I’m sure it would be a big problem-area too!). The clothes, the paper monster, the scrapbook supplies, the homeschooling books etc., the toys, the kitchen stuff – yep, we could definitely use this book, assuming we didn’t lose it in the mess! 😉

I live in a house with 3 other women, so my bedroom is essentially my part of the house. Its always cluttered and messy. I really want to share my space with friends that come over, but I am too embaressed. This book would be most helpful!

Paper clutter and homeschool/teaching stuffs. Doesn’t help that I was a teacher before having kids and hold on to everything for “someday I’ll need this.” And when I do finally let go (because it’s been sitting for years!), the following week or two I need it!

Biggest clutter is also toys – two of my boys (10 & 6) share a bedroom and we can not keep the toy clutter at bay. Seems we have used every inch of available space and I really need to bite the bullet and throw away things. (I’m a wimp – I just imagine and soon as I throw out a toy that is the one they will want!)

I need to get my office/den in order. There are boxes and piles and files of paper to be sorted through, a growing craft supply and too many “just in case” gifts. I have been “working” on it forever but can’t seem to just get it done.

I struggle with keeping my desk clean too! That, and my kitchen counter where the mail piles up. I have nice storage bins and file folders, I just have trouble actually moving stuff over there. Sigh. I should work on that.

Right now my home is pretty much of a disaster. I’ve been struggling with severe arthritis for 4 years and it makes it hard to keep up. My inclination to be a hoarder, combined with the pain and not having the strength or energy to take care of things, well, let’s just say that the house has started to become something you’d see on that tv show. It is really stressful and draining to live in it. However, the pain is a little better these days and I am determined to somehow get things back under control. I would love a copy of Clutter Rehab to provide help and inspiration.

Our bedroom is the clutter keeper!!! If we have company coming over anything out of place gets thrown into our bedroom and then it stays that way forever!!! And my kitchen counters are unbelievable. They’re the “catch all” space… Help!! 🙂

My biggest problem with clutter is my husband! I know you hear that a lot, but this is true. My husband works in apartment maintenance and you would not believe the stuff he comes home with!! People move or get evicted and he thinks we need everything they’ve left behind!! Some stuff we can actually use or sell,so that’s ok. Around Thanksgiving he brought home 10 photo albums from 1994 of people we don’t even know! I don’t want the photo albums and they weren’t that great for me to sit there and take all the pictures out. They were each about 4 inches thick-do you KNOW how much space that took up on my bookshelf! I weeded them out slowly one at a time. I threw the last one away today!
Also we live outside the city limits, so we have no trash pick-up. My husband takes our trash with him. If I’ve done a lot of cleaning he actually goes through it and takes stuff out. My daughter once asked me what a broken Tony Hawk figure was doing in the trunk of her car! She said fire came out of my eyes! Love the blog. Pray for me!

The desk is probably the worst spot for me. Incoming mail, bills, things for my husband to look over, my notebook, financial newsletters, receipts, etc. It’s a mess and usually stays a mess. I could use some help!

I just found this site and I love all the great advice. I’m a 50 yo mother of 2 adult children and I am learning you can teach an old dog new tricks. After all these years I had accumulated a great deal of clutter, that became very real when I moved last March. I can tell you I have read a lot of blogs from some amazing young women and I have gotten so many good ideas that my house is about 50% organized and I am so motivated and excited I can’t wait to tackle my kitchen. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom and encouragement.

Second off the oldest at 5 has a hard time parting with ANYTHING. She forms emotional attachments to her treasures.

Third we have rented for a year and I have had zero motivation to get organized knowing that we are moving again in March. But now I am feeling the pressure to pitch and toss as it is time to start packing boxes!

My biggest clutter area…clothes. But not just my clothes. My 4 kids too. I have 3 boys 12,9, and almost 3 and a baby girl 9 months. It’s so hard for me to get rid of my boy clothes becuase I know eventually I can pass them down. My daughter is my sweet SPOILED princess. Yes, I went crazy buying (from clearance and consignment) her clothes, but she was my first daughter. And me, well I’m still praying to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. It’s so hard to throw any of it out. Yes, I want to get it together, but where do you start???

Oh gosh, where do I even begin? It’s probably a tie between my desk/papers, the kids toys and the school room (we homeschool) but if I had to pick one it would be the desk-which is also in my master bedroom which makes for a less than inviting sanctuary at the end of a long day. Our room tends to be a dumping ground of sorts. I hate that! Thanks for the opportunity to win the book-I could totally use it!

I am honestly the biggest organizing junkie! I can hardly sleep if my bedroom is disorganized, etc. I have the hardest time keeping all our books organized, though, probably because we have about twice as many stuffed onto shelves then there should be. Would love to win this book! Thanks for all the great giveaways!

I have a real problem with getting rid of magazines. I have tried to just tear out the pages that have information on them that I think I might use at a later date. But I find myself stuffing those pages in an unseen cabinet or drawer and never get back to them to do something with them. I also, have a problem with getting rid of clothes that I seldom wear, always thinking I might need that piece of clothing one day. I could surely use some help with organization.

My clutter issues are mine and my husbands things crammed into another house. I have purged so many things but I have to find room and organization for what I have left. My husband won’t throw things away nor will his son. We have scores of boxes of albums and DVD’s and CD’s. We have many boxes and tubs of baseball cards many still in their retail packaging and wrapped in plastic, which he can’t part with including tubes with uncut cards in them.
2 of the bedrooms are tiny and I have a bed and a chest in each of them but the closets are full of stuff that my guys can’t part with. The son is in college still and he can’t keep all that stuff with him.
I have a small pantry and I can’t seem to organize it well enough to make it seem to make sense. I cook from scratch so I have alot of spices and cans of food.
I am also a gastric bypass post-op. I have protein, protein supplies and equipment everywhere I can find space in my tiny kitchen.
The garage is stuffed full of old kitchen cabinets that need to be hung in the garage, more cabinets and filing drawers for work.
I need help everywhere.

My biggest clutter problem for me is clothes and shoes!!! I have 4 boys. So the younger they are the more clothes they have …obtained from the older siblings. I seem to have clothes EVERYWHERE. I try to store clothes we are not using for the seaon in bins, but even the bins seem to be in the way. I also try to keep some things like socks and underwear in the laundry room, but thats a disaster too. I could really used some colthing organization methods.

My two biggest clutter problems are with papers and laundry. Laundry is an issue because we live in an apartment and it’s a pain sometimes to drag the laundry up and down the floors trying to find an open washing machine, so clothes tend to pile up quickly. Paper clutter is probably my biggest issue! I have the hardest time keeping papers filed and put away neatly.

My biggest clutter struggle is the artwork all over the house. No matter how many organization system I devise, the kids just ignore it (the girls are most guilty) and it’s out of hand in one fell swoop. Because I spend so much time dealing with that mess, I rarely have time to work on my own areas. My husband literally pitched most of the artwork while the kids & I were away for 2 weeks in September. They clearly don’t miss it, but it’s still an ongoing battle.

my biggest clutter issue is probably clothes. we pass kids clothes down among our family and some how it all ends up coming to a hault at my house, and I have the hardest time getting rid of it, or keeping it organized. add that to my paper clutter……

My biggest clutter is my entire house! I have clothing piles that “I need to go through to give away” everywhere. Toys galore and the ever growing pile of papers on my counter that “I need to file away”. NOt to mention an entire downstair room filled with stuff that I “need to go through” aka JUNK that I haven’t looked at in years. I walk into the house after work everyday and I am just overwhelmed. I need to declutter but I am afraid of tossing something that “I want or may need in the future”. My kids are extremely overwhelmed with the toys and don’t really want to play with anything. My HUsband is extremely frustrated about the clothing and paper clutter. He tries to do it, but I get annoyed and insist on doing it myself. But it never gets done. I am at the point where I just want to get rid of everything and start new. I think its a little emotional to get rid of all the old baby clothes and baby toys my kids won’t use anymore. However I feel that if I could somehow get everything organized our household would be so much happied and I would feel less stress.

My biggest and most frustrating clutter problem is my laundry. Just when I think I get ahead – I have a huge pile needing folding and attention. The second biggest problem? Clutter in my kitchen cabinets – I can’t seem to get rid of ANYTHING!! HELP! 🙂

I would say I have two biggest clutter problems. One is my desk, for sure. I work from home on my own business and I feel that I have every bit of the business scattered everywhere. My husband hates it. The second is the kitchen counter/island. We both tend to get the mail and throw it there, when we unpack groceries the reusable bags (which have a home) get left there. Anything that comes into our house must spend at least 3 days on the counter. Anyway, thank you for helping host the giveaway!

I can’t think of an area that is not a clutter magnet to me! The biggest issues are paperwork and that every flat surface gets filled with stuff. I’m constantly de-cluttering, yet I turn around and it’s cluttered again!

My biggest clutter area is my kitchen and food storage area. It has actually brought me to tears a couple times. My husband’s company downsized and we had to move on very short notice for him to keep his job. We were lucky enough to find a decent condo, but the kitchen is half the size of our old. As for a pantry, well that’s nonexistent.

I have tried everything that I can think of to create more space. I even put my son’s old changing table in our laundry room to create some storage shelves for canned goods. I have multiple large cooking gadgets (waffle iron, crock pot, quesadilla maker, etc) that have sitting on top of my upper cabinets (there’s a 1 ft gap between them and the ceiling). Oh, and did I mention I’m 5’4. Needless to say my daughter and my husband get a huge kick out of this, me not so much! I love to cook and use

Great tips, Toni! We have just bagged up about five large trash bags to take to Goodwill in the last few days. The majority of that has been toys, and the kids are thrilled with the extra room they have now.

My biggest clutter challenge is also piles of stuff. It builds up on our kitchen counter, my desk, and my craft room. I keep thinking that one of these days, I will stop doing it, but I always get it messy again.

I have such trouble keeping our sunporch clutter free. It’s the entrance to our house and is where we drop everything, shoes, coats, hats, keys, bags–and it’s also where the recycling bins live and a few of my son’s bulkier toys. The clutter makes me crazy!

Most of my clutter stems from toys. They are every where! I have an organization system for the toys, but the problem is, I am the only one that uses the system. Now if I could get the kids to use the system that would be great.

My pentagon(for lack of a better name) cupboard ~ 5 doors that all open into the same space. There is 1 shelf, so it is divided into 2 spaces about as tall as a bottle of cooking oil. I have tried a NUMBER of different baskets ~long and narrow, about the width of the opening and stack-able, and more~ without a TON of success. I ALWAYS find what I am looking for after the fact, even when I pull almost EVERYTHING out. UGH!!!

I am horrible at keeping papers. Since my dad passed away 2 years ago I took on the responsibility of my mom’s household bills and paperwork on top of my own. It is a paper nightmare. It never fails that once I get some of it straightened out my mom who lives out of state sends me another giant package of paperwork in the mail. It’s so stressful and so hard to keep up with. I feel like I don’t want to throw anything away because who knows if it could be important. Organization is my kryptonite!!!

I have way too much clutter! Toys, kitchen stuff, stuff, stuff, and more stuff! haha I have really been on a mission lately to de-clutter, but man is it hard!!! I have 4 girls and they have way too much stuff…toys, clothes, papers, crayons. Help!!! 🙂

My biggest clutter problem is my kitchen island & counters. I have a hard time keeping those areas clutter free. Not to mention our house is on the small side for our family size, so there is always cluttered look to certain rooms.

I have a hard time keeping things organized for several reasons. i have a small home with 5 people living in it. i tend to impulse buy things like candles (which i do use),kitchen gadgets, etc. i also tend to over buy and spoil my dogs. My kitchen counter is the biggest clutter collector then my desk

I would say my biggest problem area is probably our closets. Only because I only have two in my entire house. I have to figure out a way to store clothes and linens and anything else that does not have a place. It ends up being way to full and hard to find things. I probably need to purge but I feel overwhelmed at the thought of even starting!

My kitchen counter is a mess! I clean it then it is a mess- I have tried to organize my cabinets for the last 3 weeks – I am trying to go through the organize my house 2011 but I am stuck in my kitchen and can’t leave- I am not getting any further- Then I feel like I am not cleaning so I have to clean and everything looks nice because I stuff it all back into the kitchen cabinets again – lol

My love organization and to have specific places for each thing. But, since my desk is where I organize my papers, homeschool material, books, bills, etc. all end there after I cleaned up the rest of the house. Then I’m so tired that I don’t want to deal with it and then it is not usable.

I am also an organization nut! My biggest issue with clutter would have to be clothing. I have a real hard time getting rid of them, whether they are currently the style or currently fit or not. Some are kept for sentimental reasons, but most are just for that day when the style comes back and/or I lose weight. I need help! 🙂

I need this book! My life and sanity may depend on it, lol. I wish we could show pictures. My entire house is a disaster. I never let anyone in my house, my husband calls me a hoarder. It’s not as bad as the people on the show, I swear. My house is full of boxes full of papers and stuff. There are piles of papers, I just don’t know what to get rid of. When I do try to tackle the mess I get overwhelmed. It looks like a toy bomb went off in my living room and kids rooms and kitchen table. There are clothes that I know my husband and I have not worn for years. My garage is full of “stuff”, I can’t park my car in there and it’s a 3 car garage. I can’t even see my kitchen counters. Sorry to rant, lol. I could really use the help.

Mail and clothes care are my biggest weaknesses. Mail gets stacked in various places and then we have to gather it when we pay bills. With five children (15 yrs-1 mo.) we never seems to get caught up with the laundry. That’s why I’m reading your blog to learn from other large families how they manage it all!

Clothes! I have clothes in so many different sizes to accommodate my changing size due to being pregnant every other year. AND, I think the childen’s clothing breeds in their drawers because it seems I am always purging. Just when I think I’ve cleaned out drawer space, the laundry is caught up and the clothes are overflowing again. (Hmmm…maybe my laundry system is the problem here…lol)
Anyway I have been eyeballing this book since it was released; it would be nice to win it. Thanks for the giveaway!

My biggest clutter problem is laundry. Loads of dirty laundry pile up and then loads of clean laundry pile up never making it out of the baskets and into the drawers! Most of the time there is dirty clothes or just ever so slightly dirty clothes (worn once) on the bedrooms or bathroom floor and in the laundry room. Clean clothes manage to get in baskets and sometimes folded in the baskets. It is a vicious circle! I need help and advice!!!

I have so many clutter hot-spots I don’t know where to begin. I guess my desk would be a decent spot. As I look it over I see… 1, 2, 3, 4, no FIVE boxes full of miscellaneous papers/coupons/magazines/letters/pictures/notebooks/random stray clutter that the last time I attempted to clean up the desk just ended up shoving everything into a box to “deal with later”… now I have 5 of them, and the top of my desk is unearthable.

My biggest clutter problem is our extra table in the kitchen. It’s only purpose is to collect all the papers, bills, and “stuff” that doesn’t (yet!) have a home. We’re working on it! Thanks for the giveaway.

My biggest organization plan is usually all fo the paper stuff. There is so much with kids in school and mail and whatnot. What to keep, what to toss. My second biggest issue are the kids toys and things. Never seems to be enough room. Thanks for the book contest – love the site!!

My craft space! I know I work so much better in a clean and organized space but somehow it rarely happens. Actually, it was happening and then my cats decided the table area was a race track and everything went everywhere!

One of my biggest problems is too much stuff. I know it’s because I was afraid I would ‘need’ something & wouldn’t have the resources to get it. And you’re right – there are few times when I’ve needed something that I gotten rid of. Oh… and the sentimental stuff – a real heart-twister to get rid of.

I have a pile papers in the kitchen and near the front door. I can get it organized and then I quickly slip back into my old habits of piling papers. I feel that I can’t stay organized so this book might help.

Ugh. Clutter is such a problem for me. Wish I could say it was limited to one area, but it’s everywhere! I have issues with making piles. I seriously just need to go through the house with a trash bag & get rid of so much. I always make the excuse of “some day”… some day I’ll need this, some day I’ll read this, some day I’ll miss this. No, no I won’t. Why can’t I get that through my head?!

I can’t think of a single area of my home that doesn’t need help. My husband starting and loosing a job(2nd time … he now is working again), my mom dying, adding 2 children (my newborn and my niece my mom had custody of) and a 2nd house to our routine (my parents), a bad car accident (my best friend and I, our 2 4 year old sons, our 2 daughters – 2 and 6 weeks), taking my best friends kids for nearly 3 months (4 of them) while she had her baby (Downs) and operation (huge cyst remo^ed), AND the daily problems of life …. has left us far behind and my brain sorely muddled. (all the abo^e has been o^er the last 18 months). Really need an extra helper with a clear brain around here.

My best friend use to be my help – but as you can see, she was hit hard this year too.

I would have to say my pantry…I got rid of the wire shelves, my husband replaced them with wood shelves. great! but I cant reach the top shelf and my pantry is very deep, yes I can store a lot in there, but am afraid to, for fear of things expiring before they get used. and the top shelf is like a towering I dong know what to call it….

Kids clutter is my issue. I only have one kid and he is nearly THREE. I will at some point have another but not sure when. So I have three years of kids stuff. I don’t want to throw it out as if I have another boy I don’t want have to buy everything again. But I also know that since it will have been several years since I had a baby I will want to buy a few new items. I am totally fine with giving to those who need but my question is what to give and what to keep and Oh the memories.

I hate the clutter on the kitchen counter. All of the mail, papers from kids’ school, stuff someone dropped on the way in the door. i clean it up and ten minutes later, it’s baaaack!! It’s never ending!

My formal dining room. -Only we don’t need a formal DR. It has become the clutter catcher for the household. Whenever anyone has something they don’t need, use, etc. it gets dumped in there until I have a chance to sort through to sell, donate or get rid of. Need to be learn better clutter cotrol for myself so I can train the rest of the family.

My biggest problem with clutter is my recipes. I am a complete recipe packrat, and it’s almost embarrassing! I’m adding recipes to my Recipe Manager program on the computer (and throwing out the paper copy when I do), which is helping with the clutter, but I only add them as a I make them. Slowly but surely, I am working on it! 🙂

My home office needs major help! It serves three purposes; my work at home office (everyday), my hubby’s play and work computer area and my sewing area. I’ve got one closet in the room filled with all my work stuff, my sewing things in another closet in the hall and then hubby’s stuff in half the room. I wish I had more rooms in my house, but I don’t, so I need a way to organize in the space I have!

My biggest problem used to be my dinning room table, but since then I’ve found a way to move an old table that wasn’t being used into the kitchen and now it gets cluttered quickly. And my kitchen counter. Since its the first thing as we walk in its easy to plop things into piles.

My clutter issues are a bit of everywhere in the house. But my worst case is computer desk as there’s too much stuff and I’m working on downsizing stuff there soon. Also a chair with a basket on it with papers that sits by buffet that has a basket of old birthday cards in it and this past Christmas in a pile by the basket!

My biggest problem is my…FLOOR! We never seem to make enough time to pick up after ourselves during the day or we do and some is following behind dropping things. Maybe I should get baskets for each room…My closets and drawers are pretty organized though! I’d love helpful tips from her book!

I have come to realize I am a clothes hoarder for me and my kids so I am working to get rid of the excess and make our rooms less cluttered and also my office desk is a catch all for everything… those are my works in progress oh and the toys lol

Our office STAYS cluttered.. that and my clothes in the bedroom. So much stuff and no kids yet!! I’m trying to get rid of things. I’ve started keeping a donation box on hand. It helps to have somewhere to throw those things to get rid of immediately instead of thinking “I really should get rid of that!” 🙂

I’m definitely a pile-maker. Lots of piles. Haha
Lately I’ve just been frustrated by the clutter and just end up walking away and thinking, “I’ll do it later”. That definitely doesn’t solve the problem. I tell myself we can live with less, but I need some inspiration! This book would be a huge help!
Thanks for the opportunity!

I agree…my desk is a mess. Even though I get most “paperwork” electronically, everything ends up on my desk. And now, in addition to a true desk, I have added a family planning zone/place to throw my Bible study stuff/purse parking spot in the kitchen. It’s always a mess! I really need to combine the two areas and get organized!

The messes seem to pile up! I say “I’m going to de-clutter my recipe books and papers.” What happens then is that I get started and then don’t know what to do with them or how to organize them so the end up on my kitchen counter area and have stayed there over a week. 🙁 Unfortunately this is true.

Hi! I am a corner stacker…I feel like things are clean and organized as long as they are stacked, but then the pile falls over, papers are lost, you know the drill. My husband told me he was going to buy me a round house so I couldn’t stack stuff in the corners. Thanks for your blog…I am new to it and excited to meander through.

Downsizing from a three bedroom home to living in someone else’s guest house in one bedroom makes all my rooms a huge problem. I have been living with boxes everywhere and more in the garage, because I am attempting to go through all of them and decide what to keep and what to let go of. In the list of how we accumulate clutter, buying when we don’t know where something is, or touching something 40 times, I would fall into nearly all those categories. Exactly the reason I am downsizing and at some point wanting to live “small” and possibly somewhat “off grid”. Having gone from a teaching job with 50K a year to less than 20k being a governess for two small boys, I do need to watch every penny and where it goes. If I had to pick just one area, it is general clutter of stuff I bring in the house from the car on the breakfast bar/ dining area. Love your website, just found it through FB.

Right now I am in college. I have many clutter problems. One that really seems to drive my fiance crazy is that I leave all of my papers scattered on the couch. I need to find a designated area for my homework because everything seems to always end up on the floor. I think finding a new area will help me be more productive as well.

Any flat surface in my house seems to be a dumping ground. Everyone come in and drops what ever they have, either on the table, a desk, countertop, you name it. Then when I can’t take it any more I have to go through it all and figure out where it really should go.

I struggle with papers—I’m in the middle of getting our notebook organized, so I know that will help. I also struggle with keeping stuff cleared off countertops and tables, and it seems like I have a neverending pile of laundry to do. I need to jsut put it away to begin with, but I just don’t.

My biggest clutter challenge is my husband, god love him! 😉 He’s a ‘dropper.’ He drops things on his desk till a mound forms, he drops clothes as he undresses, he drops plates and glasses on the counter, etc. I’m very organized, and one of my full time jobs is saving us from his ‘collecting’ tendencies.

My biggest source of clutter is my dresser. That is where I stack up receipts, bills, little boxes, cards, etc. I mean to file them and I just don’t. I can’t even find my favorite pair of earrings and I fear that it is underneath all that paperwork. My other clutter source is my “to iron” pile. I never seem to find the time to iron…lol

I don’t think I can list one specific area. We live in a small house with three children and after the third one was born this past June, I have just lost control of the clutter. I am trying desperately to get it back under control but it is so hard. I would love to win a copy of Clutter Rehab! Thanks for the chance!

Oh…where do I begin with my clutter problems. I have paper clutter, toy clutter, photo clutter, “stuff” clutter, my pantry is always disarrayed. And do I begin with my clothes clutter…not the clean ones but the dirty. I so need this book.

Toys! The kids leave them everywhere and also we have too much stuff for our small apartment (we live overseas). No closet space (no we don’t have a coat closet)…..not even a place to put my vacuum. So there is a vacuum in the corner of my living room. Such an eye sore! Our washers and dryers are in the basement so my three laundry baskets are stacked on the dogs kennel in our room because there isn’t a place for them! Our dresser is at the foot of our bed because that is the only room in our bedroom for it. I can go on and on. I just need a bigger place…..LOL. Gotta love it!

So many areas cause me trouble but the worst is the paperwork that comes in via the mail, school, church or work. It all accumulates until I spend an afternoon going thru it all and throwing half of it away.

I need to work on my closets. I am able to give off the illusion that most things are “clutter free” until you look in my closets! Its so easy because you can just close the door and it all goes away… until I need to get dressed!

My biggest clutter problem is papers…I don’t “process” my mail every day (heck every week or every month!) when it comes in unless I knew that I needed to pay it right away or something really important. It gets piled up on the kitchen table…then the table gets cleaned and it gets put in a box or a bag that I tell myself I’ll go through “soon”…well soon becomes in awhile which becomes next weekend, next something and now I’m drowning in papers and bags and boxes of papers!

My biggest clutter problem is the basement, where we live.A year ago we moved into my dad’s basement to take care of him(my husband, me and 2 kids). He already had a great deal of clutter. We have been dealing with his clutter, plus our own. Our whole living area in the basement is filled with his clutter and now our clutter….just don’t know where to beging to get rid of it!

*BIGGEST* Problem? You mean besides the E-N-T-I-R-E house?? I would say my kitchen breakfast bar. We have an open floor plan so you can see the family room from the kitchen, everything gets thrown on it, my husband keeps saying he wishes that he had the builder build it at a slant so nothing would be able to sit on it! Needless to say, it doesn’t get used for breakfast!

My desk (which I can’t even get to), school room and family room. We’ve actually graduated our homeschoolers but I have piles of books and stuff I’m planning on organizing enough to sell so our school room is unusable right now. I don’t even want to talk about my family room since that is where my desk is and that should say enough. Sigh. I really need Laura’s book :-). Thank you for doing this.

Paper clutter is by far the worst in our house. Truly you can live on less. Right now we are living in a TLF waiting for housing to come available and I keep thinking, this isn’t so bad. We don’t need our stuff.

It’s hard to pick just one area, i can echo alot of responses, desk, pantry, linen closet… . I’m currently working on my office and have recently organized by scrapbook supplies so my office is the focal point right now.

Thank you for this giveaway! My biggest clutter area is my children’s toys. Their ages are 7 months-10 years and I can’t seem to cut back the quantity and still have things for each age group. I hope this book will give me some pointers for this as well as other trouble areas I have in my home.

This year I have had it with my overflowing filing cabinet. Every week I dreaded filing any paperwork because it was such a big job. Finally I went through every single piece of paper in that cabinet, ruthlessly. I checked with my tax lady and shredded everything I no longer need. I was able to eliminate about 3 drawers worth of paper clutter! It was very liberating. Then I really organized what was left and labeled it neatly. Now when I have anything to file, I just put it in the proper file immediately and it’s done. I have plenty of other areas to improve, but this was my biggest problem, and now it’s done!

My clutter problem happens most when I come home from being out of town. I’m a great packer, but a horrible un-packer! The stuff sits for days, sometimes up to a week or so. And it always seems to make other areas cluttered too, what a snowball effect!

I think my clutter problem is my HOUSE 🙂 lol. I am in the process of getting rid of stuff and I look at all the plastic bins outside housing all the yard sale stuff and I am thinking to myself, I still don’t have room and I used to have all that stuff in here too! But don’t tell anyone because I am a closet clutterer (in more ways than one).

Hello! Thanks to all of you organized women for putting this giveaway together! My biggest problem is most likely my computer desk. It is in our bedroom right next to the bed, so all kinds of stuff gets piled there: books, patterns, genealogy, camera, journal, and the list goes on and on and on! I end up dusting and putting things away about once a month! LOL! course it only stays clutter free for a few hours!

I have 2 small children and my in-laws live with us. My mother-in-law doesn’t like to give up things that *might* be useful someday, and also LOVES to find good deals on toys at yard sales for my girls. The excess spilling out of her rooms, our garage, and the toy closet feels like a small monster growing in my house and it stresses me out! Ack!

It might just be easier to tell you where I DON’T have clutter…. my minivan is the only place that does not have clutter!! Even my laundry room has things “I’m going to do someday”! The biggest problem is the kitchen counter (papers, piles, things to do, and basically anything that lands there)! I manage to get it clean and by the next day it looks like a tornado hit it! My desk is also always a “work in progress”. Anything I am possibly ever going to work on could land on my desk! Oh yeah, don’t forget my bedroom! Just another place to put stuff….

My biggest clutter problem is papers. Magazines, bills (paid and not paid), pharmacy receipts, recipes. So much! I really hate it, it’s been my goal to cut down on the clutter, but I haven’t quite reached that goal. Also dvd’s that pile up on the entertainment center. Things I need to read but don’t have the time to at that time. Sadly the same is said for my email. Things I want to read but don’t have the time too, at least it’s virtual clutter instead of actual clutter that’s taking up the kitchen table and counter tops. HELP!

My boys have accused me of being a hoarder! But after watching the show I know I’m not that
bad…but I do like to save things. I seem to attach sentimental value to lots of things then I have
to find a place to store it! And, I love recipe books so I have lots of those too!

I have a “To Be Filed” box that sits on top of my filing cabinet. I don’t put my bills in there, but pretty much anything else that I want to keep that I won’t need anytime soon, I will throw into the box. Well, when the box gets full, I have actually been dumping it into a box in the garage…. several times now… and now the stuff has been upgraded to a big rubbermaid tote that sits in my garage!

So now I just need to tackle that tote & get that stuff filed… actually I’m sure most of it can probably go into the recycle bin as I obviously haven’t missed any of it. I need to figure out a better system, though, of just dealing with those papers the first time rather than even putting it in the box!

I used to be the most organized person around… then I met my husband, we bought a bigger house together added another child to the two I already had. Back then I had a 2 bedroom condo with a one car garage that I parked in every night. Now I am completely overwhelmed by stuff! I don’t know when or how I lost my knack, but it is driving me crazy. I begged for 6 months for my husband to make enough space in the garage for me to be cookie mom – he cleared just enough, not enough for a car mind you, but enough for the cookies. We both work full time, on opposite shifts so one of us can be with the kids most of the time. I can’t pick just one problem area – every room of our house is busting out at the seams. 2011 HAS to be the year I’m going to get my groove back!! Thanks for posting such great tips to help me get motivated 🙂

My biggest clutter problem is paper. It accumulates on the kitchen table until I can’t stand it any more, then it gets moved into a box or onto my desk. Every now and then, I go through it all, sort, file, shred, etc and get it cleaned up. I always swear it will never get that way again and I do really well for a while, but I just can’t seem to keep it up!

My biggest clutter problems are toys & paperwork in the home office. However, I am making progress…little by little, one room, one project at a time. My goal is for my home to be 90% clutter free and organized by the end of 2011.

I have the hardest time keeping my master bedroom uncluttered. Seems like it’s the dropping point for everything from paperwork to clothes that need to be ironed, etc… I really want it to be a cozy, comfortable room but at this point, it’s far from it!

Books and magazines are my biggest clutter issues. I am a teacher and I have teacher books and supplies that never seem to get and stay organized. I also scrapbook and make cards and those supplies are everywhere. Paper and piles, oh my!!

OMG you mean I have to pick just one! well in that case my biggest clutter problem is the office/dinning room. but I’m looking forward to starting fresh and getting rid of this CLUTTER!! my motivation watching hoarders once a week 🙂

Thanks for the giveaway! I really hate clutter, but my house doesn’t look like it! I have a hard time finding a place for things, and am somewhat of a hoarder always thinking I will need to use stuff down the road. I guess my worst clutter area is my desk area, but really every room of the house has clutter areas.

Urgh! My all time worst clutter hotspot is the entrance hallway. It’s full of shoes, nappy bags, work bags, carrier bags, double buggy, things to take upstairs – clothes, toys, towels, toiletries. The list goes on and on and on. No matter how often i clear that space it soon ends up full of rubbish again, seemingly immediately. It’s like it all jumps back in there as soon as i turn my back!!

Hello! My biggest clutter problem is definately paper clutter! I run 2 online stores and have yet to come up with an organization system for my business that works! I have a file cabinet that looks organizational, but *beware* DO NOT OPEN THE DRAWERS!!! Lol. I would love to figure out a system that works for me and my business, especially nearing tax time!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

My biggest clutter is my spare bedroom..I am a clearance shopper and shop all year long for birthday’s, Chrsitmas , Easter , you name it.. & everything goes into the spare bedroom(which doesn’t even have a bed in it) but yes, it does have a bathroom sink sitting on the floor waiting on our remodel…so it gets pretty piled up and lots of times I just leave stuff in bags so it’s everywhere…

Oh boy, where DON’T we have clutter trouble? Every room. We try to get a handle on the paper clutter – we do the online bill paying, and we immediately put our junk in the recycle bin (most of the time).

But we have clothes clutter, toy clutter, clutter clutter…..yeesh! I have garbage bags full of toys that we’ve “cycled out”. It’s nice b/c we can cycle some of our favorite things back in when we want to, but I need to go back through and give away tons of stuff. (oh, and did I mention that people LOVE to give my kiddos STUFF for every occasion imaginable?)

Yeah, we could use help with our stuff. 🙂 Thanks for the chance at the giveway!

Besides the daily clutter with 4 kids my biggest clutter problem…I have 4 sets of dishes. Each is valuable to me, but I really only use one. Can’t bear to part with the others, I’m afraid that this is just the beginning of hoarding. 😉

Wow, where do I even begin?? I am a recovering pack rat in denial and struggling everyday to try and get organized and failing miserably trying to find the time. It is hard for me to let go of the majority of things because I do end up using most of them and we are in such a tough spot financially and have been for a long time now that I can’t see us trying to replace anything we unwisely got rid of. I am a mom of two little ones, both under 3 years old and it can be overwhelming a great deal of the time trying to do so much at once not to mention keeping everything decluttered but I know I need it badly- particularly in the pantry, my closet with my retro skinny person clothes, and paper work in general. I long to be organized, have time to actually get my couponing done on time, get the meals for the week planned AND have good, quality time with my babies…one day at a time I suppose, and with a lot of patience and help from the Lord.

(Mostly) paper clutter on the kitchen counter, it’s way to easy to set the mail, recipts, kids’ artwork, “where’s this go?”, and “to be filed” there! And it’s so visible everyday, not even hidden in the closet.

My small kitchen attracts all the “stuff” the family brings home from places that doesn’t have a home here yet. And there is no system for getting papers to the file, dh’s stuff to his desk (and let him deal with as he sees fit), and kid papers round filed while they aren’t around to pitch a fit.

My office/ playroom for my son. I work from home 40 hours a week so it needs to function as a safe space for my son to play as well as a functioning office. Most of the time it looks like a disorganized MESS.

I have such a hard time with my two boys clothes and toys. I know I’m the guilty one – they surely aren’t out buying them….its me. I need a system to downsize / organize / purge / donate / storage of the remains. Would love a copy of the book. Thanks!!!

Now this is something that I really could do better at. It just seems that I have more “stuff” than I had 5 years ago. I feel that if I can get my office space cleaner and organized perhaps I could get more work done around here. Try as I might I can never seem to get everything organized in a way that is efficient for me. Maybe I haven’t read the right book or have the right stuff to organize with, it is frustration to me.

Whoa, I love this post. I just had a professional organizer come over yesterday for six hours (yes, that’s my wallet you hear crying) and we worked in the toy room, a cabinet in the kitchen and the secretary (desk). My bedroom looks worse than those areas, but I’m not yet brave enough to let her in there. Soon. Thanks for the giveaway. I’ll be back, for sure.